Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Huntley
I wake, bathed in the soft golden glow of candlelight flickering around the edge of a massive room—Zane’s room. Groggy and drained, I squint against the light, my mind spinning its wheels. Why am I here?
Fuck. My body feels like it’s been hit by a truck.
The familiar scent of something distinctly Zane hangs in the air’s warmth, grounding me in this room. It’s been a sanctuary I’ve known since I was a teenager.
I’m sprawled out in Zane’s bed, completely naked and achy. “Are you here?”
No sound comes back to me, so I close my eyes again and give myself another minute to wake up. The last thing I remember is coming back from shredding Kaza’s turned army and stopping in the hub for a victory lap.
I give it another go and let my gaze wander around the room—the walls adorned with the dark landscapes and abstract portraits that somehow echo Zane’s complexities. As teens, we used to lie around in this room for hours, plotting how to take on the world—or at least dodge our responsibilities.
And while the room is elegant and impressive, he should be sleeping in the King’s Suite now that Francesco’s gone.
It’s still too soon.
I stretch my arms above my head, feeling every sore muscle protest.
“Hey, you’re finally awake.” Zane comes in from the corridor, carrying a food tray and, by the smell, a couple of warm brandies. He’s fresh from the shower and wearing those black silk lounge pants that make him look insanely hot. He catches me ogling him and flashes me a cocky smirk that instantly makes my heart skip.
“Stop ogling me like that when you look like hell.” There’s a softness behind his words, a vulnerability that he rarely allows to leak through.
“That bad, was it?” The smirk dissolves, and I groan, pushing myself up slowly against the mountain of pillows behind me. “What happened?”
“You nearly bled out. You had a few too many holes in you to bounce back from the battle and you face-planted on the marble floor in the hub.”
I grimace at the thought of tanking in front of the entire clan. That’s not emasculating at all. I shift a little under the covers, taking stock. Everything is in working order now, though despite my belly feeling bloated, I’ve got hunger gnawing at my insides like a wild beast caged within.
“You need to take better care of yourself in the future,” he says, pegging me with a cool glare. “Doc Jesse asked when you last had a proper feeding, and I couldn’t even give her an answer.”
Is that what this is about? Has it been that long? I search my memory for the last time I had a full feeding and come up empty. Shit. How long has it been?
I shrug, not willing to look too closely at that. “We’ve had more than a little going on lately.”
Zane sets the tray on the top of his dresser and stares me down. “I’m well aware of that. Still, if you don’t take the time to keep yourself good to go, shit like this could happen again.”
It takes way more energy than it should to flip back the covers and swing my legs over the side of the bed. The cold air hits my skin like a slap, and I think about falling back and burying myself in the sheets again.
But I can’t. Zane is genuinely worked up and needs to see that I’m all right. “How about you help me into the shower? I’ve still got the scent of tainted blood on my skin and the taste of those fuckers in my mouth.”
Zane walks over and helps me stand, his arm sliding around my waist. It hurts my ego to admit it—even to myself—but his hold is the only thing preventing me from crashing to the side or crumpling to the floor.
Together, we shuffle to his bathroom and he flicks the light on to illuminate the marble countertops and the large soaker tub in the corner. The massive rain showerhead is still dripping from him getting cleaned up while I was out.
“I can manage from here.” I straighten, shaking off his support.
He doesn’t allow me to retake control. Instead, he reaches into the shower to start the spray of water. “Humor me.”
“I need to piss.”
“I’m not surprised. Doc Jesse funneled blood into you like we were at a frat house kegger.”
I chuckle and shuffle over toward the toilet. He’s right there with me. I lean back and peg him with a look. “Seriously, Zane. I’ve got this.”
“You don’t want me to hold it for you?”
I peg him with a droll stare and he holds up his hands. “It’s not like that’s uncharted territory.”
“For me to piss, it is.”
He shrugs. “Whatever. Don’t say I didn’t offer.”
While I empty my bladder, he strips off his lounge pants and by the time I flush, he’s as naked as I am. The two of us head into the shower and the hot water cascades down like liquid silk against my skin. It washes away the sharp scent of blood and every ounce of tension melts away into oblivion.
Dropping my gaze, I watch the red streaks of blood swirl down the drain until they disappear entirely.
“And this is how I know just how ‘not okay’ you really are.” Zane is looking at me with one ebony brow arched. “When have we ever been naked in the shower without your cock weighing in?”
I glance down at my lifeless cock, too exhausted to come up with anything smart-assed to say. Instead, I close my eyes and focus on staying upright while Zane gently runs his soapy hands over my shoulders and down my back with careful precision.
The warmth from his palms sends waves of comfort radiating through me. It’s more than just cleansing—it’s restorative somehow.
After what feels like an eternity under the warm spray, Zane turns off the water and places one of my hands against the tiled wall. “Don’t fall and break yourself. I’m just getting a towel.”
A moment later, he wraps me in a mile-long swatch of Turkish cotton decadence and I’m not only cleaner but fatigued beyond reason.
“Back to bed for you.”
“No argument.” I flop back down onto the sheets, a deep sigh escaping my lips. The exhaustion settles heavily across my chest, the weight of it dragging me deeper into dream territory.
Only this time I’m not solo.
Zane slides in behind me, one arm settling under my neck, the other draping protectively over my ribcage. His warmth envelopes me entirely as he cuddles in close. “Get some sleep, Viking.”
He pulls blankets over us both, and just like that—with him wrapped around me—I let go of everything else and let sleep drag me under.
Scottie
“Are you sure about this?” Tucker glances across the front seat at me, his brow furrowed. “You’ve given Zane and Huntley shit a dozen times over the past couple of weeks for going off on their own and leaving you behind. Now we’re doing the same thing to them.”
“Not exactly the same.” My voice comes out sharper than intended, and I try not to look too closely at why it did. I pull the handle of my door and drop out of the truck. “They ditched me because they didn’t have faith in me or my abilities. Then they went off on their own. The difference is, I have nothing but respect for them and understand they need a night to recover. And we’re not on our own. There are half a dozen royal guards here.”
He chuckles and hoists me over the brick wall where we crossed earlier tonight. “And it sounds like you believe that will make a difference when they find out.”
I shrug and brush my palms together. “Daeva has to pay for what she did to our fathers. If she returns tonight, I want to be here.”
We stick to the shadows as we approach the psychiatric hospital for the second time tonight. Rounding the property, we return to the stand of centuries-old trees near the front.
We wiped out a sizeable chunk of her turned army—if not all—but she doesn’t know that yet.
Link brought a signal jammer when he came with the attacking party. At the very most—if Kaza has this place wired with surveillance cameras—Daeva and Lazarus know ‘something’ is going on.
But that could be something as benign as a power outage.
I lead the way, keeping us downwind from the buildings. I won’t risk her picking up the scent of mine or Tucker’s human blood and tipping her off to our presence.
Tucker falls silent as we reach the trees where Link has set up a surveillance position. It’s the cluster of trees where Zane and I hid earlier.
Link is perched on a thick branch, scanning the darkened buildings, his skin and clothing as black as the night itself.
“All quiet here?” I whisper up to him.
“Outside, yes. The team inside is still searching for intel.”
I shift my feet, staying behind the thick trunk to remain invisible from the parking lot. “Do you think she’ll come back tonight?”
Link tilts his head from shoulder to shoulder. “There’s no way to know. We’ve only got another hour of night left at most. If she’s not back by the time the sun comes up, we’ll be stuck here waiting until nightfall tonight.”
That’s not the answer I was looking for. I want her to come back so I can snap her neck, and Tucker can rip it from her scrawny shoulders.
Tucker squeezes my arm as if he’s sensing my swirling thoughts. Right. He can sense them. The magic that we share bonds us in some crazy ways. “You’ll get your chance, beautiful.”
Link taps his earpiece and holds up a finger. He listens for a moment and then drops from his branch and lands in a crouch beside us. “One of the men inside found something. I’ll check it out if you two are good to keep watch.”
“We’ll be right here when you get back.”
He accepts my assurance, scans the grounds between our position and the main entrance, and then disappears into the cover of darkness.
“We should take up our position.” I point up the tree and am about to start my climb when Tucker stiffens beside me. “What is it?”
He turns, tilting his head as if he hears something on the wind. Absently, he shifts me closer to the trunk of the tree as he scans our surroundings. “We’re not alone.”